Han Si-woo started speaking rapidly with a rare angry expression.
“I know that three days is a short time to prepare the song perfectly. But there’s enough time to plan the concept and follow the choreography.”
“…”
“However, the progress of the Second Team’s stage is pathetic. It’s not surprising that you haven’t decided on the song concept, but it seems like you didn’t do a good job with the parts either… Did you just mess around for the past three days?”
Han Si-woo continued his harsh words, dragging the trainees’ pride down to the ground.
And then…
“Or did the team members fight with each other or something?”
“…That’s not it!”
Before he could finish his sarcastic remark, Seo Yoo-jin, the leader and center of the Second Team, stepped up.
“I tried to do well, but the team members didn’t listen to me… they just kept saying weird things!”
Seo Yoo-jin looked truly aggrieved.
But…
‘Oh dear.’
It was hard to see Seo Yoo-jin, blaming her team members while defending herself, in a good light.
“Seo Yoo-jin, participant.”
“…Yes.”
“Seo Yoo-jin is the leader of the Second Team, right? The leader’s job is to gather the team members and guide them in the right direction. I think your current behavior, Seo Yoo-jin, is unqualified as a leader.”
“…This is unfair!”
Seo Yoo-jin gritted her teeth, seeming upset by Han Si-woo’s words. Tears began to well up in her eyes.
Swish-.
It looked like she was tilting her head back to hold back the tears.
While that could seem somewhat pitiful, Han Si-woo wasn’t the type to show mercy just because of that.
“I also think the role distribution was a bit wrong from the start. Seo Yoo-jin, why are you monopolizing both the leader and center roles?”
“I can handle both well…!”
“Yoo Seol.”
“……!”
Han Si-woo openly interrupted Seo Yoo-jin and turned to Yoo Seol.
“You didn’t seem like this type before, but today you’re unusually passive.”
“……”
“It doesn’t seem like either being the leader or the center suits you… Is there something wrong?”
Zing-.
At Han Si-woo’s words, all the eyes and cameras in the practice room turned towards Yoo Seol.
If she were an ordinary person, she might be flustered by the sudden attention, but… this wasn’t Yoo Seol.
Yoo Seol calmly smiled weakly and replied.
“I’m sorry.”
“……”
Her humble posture while answering Han Si-woo resembled a wilted flower before falling.
“I’ve… not been in good health this week… so I couldn’t show a good performance.”
“Health… was not good?”
Murmur murmur.
“Now that you mention it…”
“It does look like she’s lost some weight…”
The participants and production team began murmuring at Yoo Seol’s response.
After hearing her words and looking again, Yoo Seol did look unwell.
‘…Is it true?’
Even I, who could see the status window, was confused.
No matter how high Yoo Seol’s acting stat and [Darkening] trait were, she didn’t look like she was faking it.
“Where exactly are you not feeling well?”
Was Han Si-woo also flustered by Yoo Seol’s response? He wiped the reprimanding expression off his face and asked in a worried tone.
Yoo Seol then tried to respond with a face that looked as okay as possible.
“Just… a slight cold.”
Of course, saying that didn’t make her health seem any better.
“……”
Han Si-woo’s expression gradually changed from worry to guilt for what he said earlier.
‘Come to think of it, she was the first to come to the hospital when Hye-jeong unni collapsed.’
Though he was a harsh critic… it seemed his concern for the participants was genuine.
“Health management is a basic quality for an idol. Take care of yourself… all right?”
“…Yes, thank you for your concern, Producer Han Si-woo.”
Just when the atmosphere began to feel a bit warm due to Han Si-woo’s tsundere-like concern and Yoo Seol’s refreshing smile.
“Ah, even so!”
“……!”
Seo Yoo-jin couldn’t just stand by and watch the conversation between the two, so she shouted.
“Seol unni is just using her illness as an excuse to participate in the meeting half-heartedly! She can’t keep up with the practice! Because of that, the team atmosphere is ruined, and the stage progress is halted! It’s unfortunate that she’s sick, but our team’s sluggishness is largely due to Seol unni’s fault!”
“……!”
Seo Yoo-jin’s unexpected statement froze the atmosphere in the practice room.
What she said could very well be true.
If a key member of the team was unable to attend team tasks due to being sick and disrupted the atmosphere…
The already difficult stage difficulty would be even greater.
However…
‘Yoo-jin, shut up…!’
In this situation…, in this atmosphere…, especially in front of the cameras, that was not something to say.
Moreover, the more serious issue was that numerous production team members were present.
How tempting must this situation be for them from their perspective?
Swish-.
I involuntarily glanced towards Shin PD.
He was watching the situation with an indescribable serious expression, capturing everything through his eyes.
When the usually relaxed guy took a serious stance and observed the situation… a tension began to spread among the sharp-eyed participants and production team.
And the one who noticed this was…
“…Seo Yoo-jin, please calm down for now.”
Han Si-woo seemed to feel the same way.
“…You seem a bit agitated, so let’s settle down for now.”
Han Si-woo appeared to want to avoid escalating the situation any further.
If things got any worse than this… and if it went on-air exactly as it was…
Seo Yoo-jin would definitely face public backlash more severe than anything she had experienced before.
Han Si-woo didn’t want to put her through such a harsh situation.
“I’m just too unfair!”
“I understand, so stop.”
However, already having lost her reins, Seo Yoo-jin, with her teary eyes, refused to stop and Han Si-woo decisively cut her off.
“…Let’s stop talking for now.”
“……”
“Tomorrow, I will conduct a separate mid-term evaluation for the Second Team. So, for today, let’s call it a day and wrap up the mid-term evaluation. Both teams worked hard.”
Han Si-woo suddenly declared the end of the mid-term evaluation.
Seo Yoo-jin calmed down and returned to her place with the Second Team.
And from the production team…
“Why did you cut it off here, Si-woo?”
“We were having a good atmosphere…”
Seems like Han Si-woo’s actions didn’t sit well with them, leading to some agitation.
Until that point, Shin PD had just silently watched the situation unfold.
“……”
“……”
The other trainers and camera crew, besides Han Si-woo, glanced at Shin PD for a cue…
Nod.
“Thank you for your hard work.”
Swish-. Swoosh.
After Shin PD nodded, only then did they get up from their seats and lower the cameras.
‘Phew…’
Watching them, I sighed inwardly in relief.
If Shin PD had wanted to escalate the situation, he would have forced the filming to continue despite any objections.
But since he chose to cut the filming instead…
‘Looks like he’s planning to just let it go…’
It seemed he wasn’t interested in dragging Seo Yoo-jin down for the sake of ratings.
‘Is it because Yoo-jin belongs to SAV…?’
Certainly, from the broadcasting station’s perspective, poking at a major agency like SAV must feel burdensome.
It made sense that the production team decided to let this situation slide for that reason.
Of course, that said…
‘…That was a close call.’
It didn’t change the fact that Seo Yoo-jin had nearly faced a major crisis.
‘…She’s still walking a tightrope.’
And risks like today wouldn’t vanish until the day the Second Team competition was over.
Yet, whether she knew this or not, Seo Yoo-jin still looked upset.
‘Guess I have to say something…’
In this mid-term evaluation, our First Team didn’t receive very good feedback. And Seo Yoo-jin is the leader and center of the opposing Second Team.
It would be more beneficial for our team to let her self-destruct without any advice.
However… perhaps it was the bond formed during the first team competition that made me unable to ignore Seo Yoo-jin now.
So…
“Yoo-jin.”
“…?”
“Let’s talk for a moment.”
I caught Seo Yoo-jin as she was returning to her practice room after the mid-term evaluation ended.
“Where are you going?”
“I was going to the bathroom.”
“……!!”
When I mentioned the bathroom, Seo Yoo-jin, who had only shown an aggrieved and frustrated expression until then, flinched.
“Wh-why the bathroom…?”
“Because there are no cameras there. Why?”
“I… don’t want to! I don’t know why suddenly, but let’s talk here!”
“……?”
Did something happen to her in the bathroom before?
‘Come on, who would do that to Seo Yoo-jin?’
Still, since she seemed reluctant to talk in the bathroom, I stopped in my tracks.
‘Is it all right since no one is around…?’
This hallway is somewhat distanced from the practice room.
I confirmed there was no one nearby and cautiously spoke to Seo Yoo-jin.
“Yoo-jin, you almost got into big trouble today.”
“…Huh?”
“What were you thinking talking like that in front of the cameras?”
“Ha!”
Even though I was saying this for her own good, Seo Yoo-jin’s expression scrunched up again.
“Are you trying to teach me something? What did I do wrong! None of the things I said today were lies!”
Saying this, Seo Yoo-jin raised her voice as if she were merely wronged.
“I was trying my best! Yoo Seol couldn’t even participate in meetings properly because she was sick! The team members ignored me, the leader, and just worried about Yoo Seol all the time! The song’s difficulty is high enough already, and on top of that, things aren’t progressing! There’s no chaos like this!”
If what Seo Yoo-jin said was accurate, then of course it looked bleak.
It would be frustrating and unjust if you tried hard but the team members didn’t cooperate.
But…
“Still, your method today was wrong. Other people…, especially the viewers who will watch the broadcast don’t know those circumstances.”
Seo Yoo-jin’s demeanor during the mid-term evaluation was too aggressive, even considering all the circumstances. There was sufficient justification for the viewers to hurl stones at her.
“So in the future, if something unfair happens, try to cool down a little in front of the cameras…”
“That’s not my fault; that’s the fault of viewers who don’t know the details!”
“Ha…”
I tried to gently reason with her, but Seo Yoo-jin’s loud outburst made me unintentionally sigh.
And as I pondered her highly self-centered attitude…
‘This feels like talking to a little kid…’
Ah.
‘…She is practically a kid.’
Realizing that she was only 17 years old made me pause.
She had only worn her school uniform for a month…, practically still in middle school, and probably going through puberty much longer.
She hadn’t experienced society at all, especially with the conceited trait indicating she was raised in her own world.
As I understood her somewhat, I also realized…
‘I can’t change her just by saying things.’
In situations like this, you normally teach them with strict discipline, but…
‘There’s no one here to do that.’
…I guess there’s no helping it.
Seo Yoo-jin’s state was akin to a malfunctioning 8-ton truck.
“…Yoo-jin, I won’t talk any longer. But try to remember what I said today as much as possible.”
“Forget it! I’ll take care of it myself!”
“You… you’ll regret it later crying and lamenting, but then it’ll be too late.”
“Funny, who would cry! Are we done talking? Then I’m going!”
With that, I could only hope that the “golden child” in front of me would handle things in a way that minimizes her hurt.
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